UIS is responsible for supporting the Enterprise Resource Management (ERP)[3] and business applications used by each campus, as well as managing System Administration and ERP application infrastructure[4]. In addition to ongoing maintenance and support of these systems, UIS manages between 20 – 25 projects annually. These include:

The team that aids with the processes and standardized tools to effectively manage this significant amount of work is UIS’s Project Management Office (PMO).

What is the PMO’s role within UIS?

Under Director Ridawn Cummings, the PMO team was implemented in 2013 with 1 full-time Project Manager (PM) and has since grown to 3.5 project managers with a 4th full-time PM currently in the hiring process (refer to UIS’s Organizational Chart[8]). The team’s charter is to provide the standardized portfolio and project management tools and processes that aid UIS with:

Portfolio management, including reviewing and analyzing project requests, validating that they align with UIS and campus IT objectives and that UIS has the capacity to complete the requested projects. The PMO also assists with prioritizing projects within the portfolio.

Project management services, including project manager support, development and monitoring of the project process, resource planning and leveraging, and reporting and metrics throughout all project phases.

Project mentorship, including training and mentoring project sponsors and leads to ensure that they are educated and supported throughout every step of the project to ensure success.

Image 1 shows a view into UIS’s project process with the high-level tasks within each phase of the process.

Image 1. View into the project process showing the project phases with the general tasks that fall under each phase.

The PMO implemented a centralized portfolio and project management tool called TeamDynamix to help effectively management its goals. The vendor recently featured the PMO in a white paper[9] about this implementation.